uglyEMT

I see Ruff. I misread the post. The question was rehtorical I guess. I do see your point now of uncalled for air flights. Those scenarios you mentioned were definatly uncalled for. I cant imagine the flight company allowing the pilots to actually take the calls. Chopper shopping sounds crazy too. Having companies that will pull gun-ho stunts just to say they fly.

Rest Easy Brothers Ruff answering your question.. my squad does use the birds very appropriatly. Ours are run by State Police and not a private but we do get feedback from them all the time. We call the bird when we know darn well the 1 hr ground to the Level 1 Trauma or the 2hr to the Burn Center will expire the patient. Most of our traumas will go by ground with ALS aboard and we do so fairly regularly. Haven't had a burn in a while so I dont have any recent knowlege for that one. As an example last weekend we had a multi patient MVA and one went by brid the other was ground. The bird was extended extrication (35 minutes of cutting around this poor kid), alot of internal injuries. Ground was broken leg and pelvis but without the extended extrication (FD just needed to cut the door off and we boarded under 5 minutes). One of our rookies did ask why both were not flown and it was explained that the leg and pelvis while painful was not an immediate life threat and ALS felt ground was a viable option while the extended extrication with internal injuries were an immediate life threat and most of our golden hour was wasted extracating so air was necessary.

He's being buried with full honors tuesday. Full honor funeral planned

In NJ the background check comes before employment. Nothing was done before or during class as far as checks went. Even me with a DHS clearence still got a indepth check, both local PD and FBI.

A city emergency medical technician who had special access via a universal "fireman's key" has been arrested on rape and other charges in the armed sexual assaults of five women and girls since 2001, police said Wednesday. EMT with Firemans Key Accused...

I understand Jake. I do agree he was advicating ALS for all but I guess I disagree with the statement of educate up or be substandard. I know my experience is limited to NJ and we are the backasswards state when it comes to ANY care. I hear it all the time. We suck and I know it. Do I wish it were different? Of Course. Will it ever happen? Doubt it. Too many hands int he cookie jar keeping it the way it is. As far as my being a detriment comment, here in the NJ area it is. Folks that are ALS level are dying for jobs but being all are hospital based and are not hiring they go without. If they were BLS jobs aplenty. I wish everyone would get the care they need at the appropriate level. It should be the norm. I always have advicated better level of care. I always call for ALS when I get on scene if just by my initial impression the patient needs it and they haven't been dispatched already. My response area actually does very well getting ALS out just as we get out so meet time is reduced and on the rare ocassion they even beat us there (happened twice so far that I know of). Do we sometimes dont get ALS support? Yes it does happen and on those occasions when I wish they were there and were not available I feel for my patient. I really do. But thats when i buckle down and try my best to reach way deep into whatever we are allowed to do and try to get my patient as comfortable as possible (not that I dont always try that, not saying I dont. I just go that extra little bit). Can I do much, NO. But hopefully what I do do helps even its just a shoulder. I know its lame for me to say that and I am not doing anything other then a placeibo effect but hey its what i got and I work with what I got. I guess I just get upset (not directly at anybody just in general) when folks put down BLS as just basics and nothing else, we dont do a service to our patients, we a substandard, yada yada yada. I feel we are an intrical part of the whole system, a cog in the wheel so to speak. I just feel folks look down on us and for no ligitamit reason other than we are not paramedics. I know this gets us into the whole argument thats been beaten to death, runover, shot, stabbed, burnt, rerunover, beaten some more, then finally thrown on the side of the road so i will not go there and I will leave it at that. I guess we all come from different areas, different providers, different systems and we will all never agree on anything other then the patient DESERVES the highest level of care available.

Bushy you make it sound like we, as providers here in the US, keep ourselves below ALS level of care deliberatly. Unfortunatly, my friend, this is just how it is in our country as a whole. In the US ALS is a specialty and not a norm. Most providers staff with BLS and keep ALS in reserve. Please do not fault the BLS guys and gals for being part of our broken system. As was stated previously in some parts of the country being ALS is actually a hinderence to employment because the system only wants a few ALS level providers and keeps them hospital based vs company based. BTW in my area even ALS does not provide pain managment. Its against SOP. Yes we are behind the world in our level of care but dont fault the men and women working inside the system because of broken SOPs, we do the best with what we can. So even being a Medic we would, by your terms, still be providing substandard care no matter how big our bag of tricks is. In a perfect world every EMT would be at the highest level of cert and provide a patient with the highest level of care but unfortunatly this is not the case. I wish it wasnt but again dont fault the men and women for working inside the system provided.

Herbie. i know what you mean. No need to ammend. I also wasnt talking about responders that use their vehicle to run to the scene. I know some areas have that and the lights and radios and such are justified. I was talking about more of the general wacker that cant even drive the rig yet has more lights then every rig in town combined. Flys to the building, blows red lights and such and then has to wait for their partner or senior member to drive. Its those yahoos that give most responders a bad name. I understand the need for certain lights, if alot of blind intersections are traveled (those with just stop signs or nothing at all) I can see the need for say side strobes / flashers. This just adds to the safety after of course coming to a stop and checking the intersection is clear (same as with the rig). Rear lights help just keep the general public from following up your tailpipe if your moving traffic. As for the radios and antennas well thats all up to you personally. I know alot of states dont allow scanners in vehicles unless they are government (state, local, federal) use only. A squad issued radio is different, if you have one then apparently its necessary and I dont frown upon that. I personally have a CB and my squad issued radio (motorola CDM1550 LS) in my vehicle but use low profile antennas that are hardly seen. The squad issued radio is only because I am a line officer now in my squad and on occasion have to come to scenes in my vehicle for whatever reason. Just helps in coordinating my arrivial with fire, pd or ems. As far as the plates and PD, I have no real experiences with that. Usually get a wave or a nod from LEOs, haven't had the experience of being stopped yet. With regards to the duty to stop, its personel. If I am solo and feel I need to then I will. If I have my family with me then usually just make a 911 call without stoping. NJ does not have a duty to act law so the call is for my personel peace of mind. Do I worry if folks see the plate and I dont stop? Sometimes, but normally folks dont even see whole cars in their lanes so i doubt they would spot the plates.

I dont know about other places but in NJ you actually have to show your EMT license to get the plate so those with it are EMTs or Medics (there are no medic plates though) I know what you mean about the wackers. Usually have the plate, the lights, and a S O L sticker across there whole back window. I have even seen folks with responder written backwards on a bug screen. Cops by me usually put them in their place rather quickly. At least they have rewritten the law for us here and we are treated as ambulances while enroute with folks required to yield to us. Which simply means most folks in our area see a blue light and do the right thing. Amazingly though they see the rig and freeze up and forget to yield to it LOL Maybe we need blue lights on the rigs LOL BTW Im not a wacker I only have one light on my dash and one in my rear window so folks dont follow me.

Congradulations JT on the new job! Way to Go

What right with America? ALOT!!!! FIRST AND FOREMOST THE FREEDOM TO POST THIS!!!!!!!!!!!! brought to me by the brave men and women in the armed forces who proudly serve with dignity, honor, and valor and for those who have paid the ultimate price with their blood. Now on to my list.... In no particular order ....... NASCAR Beer Cheese Burgers Fourth Of July Bikinis Playboy Offshore Powerboat Racing Fishing Hunting Horeshoes Football Baseball Offroad Fun ATVs Pleasure Boating Blondes Brunettes Red Heads Daisy Dukes Country Music Volunteers SO MUCH MORE!!!! And the best thing of all..... MY RIGHT TO SAY... "If you dont like my list, you can kiss my ass! " Almost forgot... being allowed to have a crazy kiwi stop over for breakfast if I want LOL

NJ (surprisingly) has the S O L on the plates. $25 fee for them but I hear that part of it goes to a fund for fallen brothers. now the funny thing is EMT-A doesnt stand for advanced it stands for ambulance

Review the material lightly. Dont over think the question! Read the answers carefully, there IS a right answer. Dont get hung up on how far your along or that the machine went back down a notch. When we took our test my instructor was present as we were going in and I was a little frazzeled, he grabbed me to the side and said the following... I did enquire as to his question afterwards.. he said it was to calm me down. Do your best but if you KNOW the material the score will be irrelevant. Noone asks your score when your helping them. If your a more hands on person then a testing person sometimes the score is not a reflection of the knowledge base. Just relax and go for it. If you have been a straight A in class thus far there is no reason you shouldn't pass the NREMT.

Congrats on the new job and at a beautiful location Here is a great link from the American Family Physician from April 1998. It goes into the physiology, symptoms, and treatments of high altitude sickness High- Altitude Medicine emedicine article on physiology and symptoms of HACE HACE emedicine article on physiology and symptoms of HAPE HAPE I know HAPE and HACE are the extreme forms of problems but gives a great overview of the begins of the problems and are more inline with what someone will begin with. They also talk about preexisting conditions that may be exaserbated by the altitude. as far as the SOP goes, sounds like here in NJ with not being able to do much. Mostly liability issues. As far as the NTG goes, can you administer patients own prescribed? Something to look into. Hopefully it will all be spelled out for you and you can get the extra info from the Doc. Congrats again

Great Topic Let me preface this reply with the fact I live in a rural area with a 35 to 45 minute travel time to an ED, 1hr + to a Level 1 Trauma, over 1 1/2hrs to a burn center and in my system all ALS is hospital based. I believe in our case ALS intercepts are needed. Usually ALS gets dispatched along with BLS for certain calls and it is up to BLS to cancel ALS. We usually meet enroute either closer to the dispatch or about half way to the ED (around 15 minutes from dispatched time, roughly 20 minutes to ED), We have predetermined meeting points that ALS will stage at if they get there before us OR line of sight meetings if we or they have passed the staging points. Again all communicated between BLS and ALS. Sometimes ALS will meet us on scene if they are in the area (not often but does happen). I feel with our travel times this kind of intercept is a good thing especially in the cases of MI and severe respitory distress/ failure. I dont have figures for all calls where ALS has been involved but from the ones where I have been on the rig the outcomes have been positive. With the few MI's I have been on the patient was stabilized enroute to the ED (one wasn't unfortunatly). Two allergic reactions the patients were begining to reverse symptoms by the time they got to the ED. One OD patient was helped and had near normal vitals (down from HR 200+ RR 40) by the time we got to the ED. Now depending on the system sometimes I feel ALS intercepts are not required do to the quick travel times to an ED. Other systems have ALS onboard or are all ALS providers so intercepts are not required. In this fractured system we have in the US where every state, county, sometimes municipality has different protocols and / or ALS/BLS combinations everyone is different and what works for some does not work for others. Hopefully one day in the future we will have a more uniform system where things are nearly the same throughout (yes in some areas it will have to be different but majority speaking).

I love those combat rigs NICE. Kiwi you cant drive period with or without endorsment LOL I dont think wording will do anything. Install 180dB train horns on the rig. it moves folks better then anything else. Makes air horns sound like party favors. I move more people with the horns then with the sirens. I think too many people have gotten used to hearing sirens and dont pay them any attention. Plus with everybody listening to their ipods or freaking texting while driving it takes 180dB to wake them up

Thats great Gypsy. I know how bad it was to get that interview. Glad its all working out and will keep my fingers and toes crossed for you that it all works out. Dont forget to light the green candle It is even better that it works with the nursing course schedule. Thats a big bonus. a little Viking Kittens to help with the happy dance

:thumbsup:Good luck there Gypsy Hopefully it all works out for you

Glad to update you all Dad had the cath yesterday at Mt Sini Hospital. WOW what a great place, I couldnt believe the level of compitancy and service there. Out of all the hospitals I have been through with my Dad over the years this was by far the best. Anyways... Dad's surgery went excellent. 4 stents placed ( 2 LCA, 1 CA, 1 LAD) and what looked like strings on the pre op imaging now look like 4 lane highways He still has more to go. While in there the Doc found 2 more 100% blocked artieries. He said RCA and one other I cant remeber for the life of me LOL But it will be 5 weeks before he goes back in according to the Docs. Dad was in good spirits and felt alot better afterwards Not happy with having to go back but understands. Checking post op ECGs and paper work he still has elevated ST and T waves and a 1* AV Block that needs to be worked out but it is secondary right now, according to the Docs, to getting the arteries unclogged. I fully understand that and agree. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and information. It means alot to My Family and Myself. Hopefully one day I can return the favor if ever needed.

The next instalment of this.... REALLY!!!! These EMTs say their punishment doesn't fit the crime? CEUs are unimportant and have no bearing on us? Are they seriously trying to justify falsifing records by saying its not a problem? EMS in Mass FAIL Part II

I want the hitch finger for my Rig LOL

While not alot of stidies out there on the subject i was able to find one conducted for a college that offered both online and on-campus studies My link here is a study of on-line vs on-campus in the health care industry My link seems the few studies out there, there are more links (google on-line vs on-campus sucess rates), show that while its in its infancy on-line courses offer just as much as on-campus learning but reach a broader segment of the populus. Sucess is student based more then academic based (roughly the same either way). One stressor in the studies is while on-line offers more flexability it still needs to be used in conjunction with hands on experience. In the health care field it seems its even, the class room vs the chat room, with folks still needing clinical rotation time inorder to meet BoH regulations. The on-line style of education, as far as the book learning goes, seems to be just as fine, its about the individual be it online or on campus.

Their safest bet would be to surrender to a station. If they are found in the streets its a game over for them. It really is a sad day Both these men leaving behind families and the one's wife is due next week. He never got to see his child :( Killing these two officers for a bench warrent!!! These are the lowest of the low. Glad to hear about the organ donation though, hopefully the lives touched by this officer out of his family's generosity go on to be some of the world's greatest people.

the second officer passed away at 11:30am June 29 suspects are still at large "Police were searching for a red 1994 Toyota Camry connected to the shooting and an African-American male and female, McElroy said. The male was described as being in his mid- to late 20s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 150 to 170 pounds. He is thought to be wearing brown shorts, a white T-shirt, a black vest and white sneakers, police said. No detailed description was available on the woman." per news article at least some good comes from this sensless violence... "Doctors have pronounced Officer David Curtis deceased," Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said in a statement. "His family has chosen to harvest his organs so he will remain on life support for the next couple of hours while that takes place." "

Ruff after seeing this post I had to look it up. It appears that you take the classroom work online and apply it twords a degree. You still need to do whatever clinicals and or ride time that your state BoH requires. It just saves you the classroom time. When I was becoming an EMT I looked at online courses due to my job schedule and all had roughly the same as this program you posted about. I could take the classroom over the computer then pass a test, once past, I would be enrolled in a hospital program for clinicals. Once that was done another test would be issued and if sucessfully completed I would be allowed to take the State's BoH test. I did NOT go this route however, my employer was understanding enough to work around the class schedule. Not saying this is good or bad, I personally cant comment because I have no knowlege of it, it probably depends on the person. If your going to just take the course fluff the clinicals just to get the cert then its pointless. If your going to take it seriously then it might be a good idea for those folks with very busy schedules that can not or do not afford the luxury of taking the time off to go to a classroom.